AKO MISMO!

I already watched how Ricky Hatton decided to sleep in front of millions of people around the world via the internet. But I still wanted to savor the moment that a Filipino Manny Pacquiao knocked out the loud-mouthed Hatton. As expected, the commercials were a lot longer than the two-round fight. But one caught my attention. Honestly, I wouldn’t really notice it if Ely Buendia wasn’t the front-liner with matching Chris Tiu appearing shortly after Ely.

I’m talking about the AKO MISMO advocacy infomercial. I was a little cynical at the beginning as I was expecting it to be another political ad. Just like this mayor who claims that everything in his city is free and this senator who tirelessly helps abused OFW’s to come home. There was another senator who took over a young boy’s pedicab. And a few days later, there he came professing his love to a TV personality on national television (major ewwwwnesssssss!!!). Can you blame me if I initially thought that AKO MISMO was another political propaganda? But there was this side of me that was distinctly struck after watching it. It was the side of my heart where the love of my country resides.

The one-minute infomercial speaks of a lot of things about our country’s state today. It’s true that more than poverty and corruption, our greatest problem is Filipinos’ lack of hope that our country can rise above it all. I put my skepticism aside and let the little idealism in me rule. I went to the AKO MISMO site and made my pledge. It was so overwhelming. 46,411 pledges as of this writing.

I have always known the problem with our country. We blame everybody and everything. You are always late for work so you blame traffic. You are poor so you blame the government. You are ugly so you blame your parents’ genes. You blame the black cat for bringing all these misfortunes in your life.

AKO MISMO!

Only two words, yet these two are all we need to make a change. What have you done for this country? Let’s stop putting the future of this country in the hands of our government. Haven’t we failed so much with this? Hehe! Let us start making a stand for ourselves. Let us make a change one Filipino at a time.

You don’t need to be priest to reach out to the poor. Sacrifice one Starbucks coffee a month and donate it to poor kids (the money not the coffee hehe).

You don’t need to be a teacher to spread knowledge. Volunteer to help your brothers, sisters, cousins or kids with their homework.

You don’t need to quit your job and be a full-time environmentalist to care for Mother Nature. Re-use. Reduce. Recycle. Plant a tree. Participate in Earth Hour every year.

You don’t need to go out in the streets just to be heard. Blog just like what I do. I don’t care if I only have less than ten readers. In one way or another, I made them smile, cry and even wonder once in a while.

You don’t need to be a policeman to fight criminals. Remember how a boxer can make this country crime-free even for a few hours.

The list of things to do is infinite. No matter how small you think it is, it still matters.

But this should not end with a pledge. The pledge should only spearhead the many wonderful things that we can do to make Philippines a better place to live in.

Kudos to the people behind this advocacy. Just bear in mind that thousands of people went out of their ways to sign in for this. I hope that this won’t be used to benefit a politician or any political party. If it is? Hmm! I have read a lot of qualms about this saying that this is to launch the political campaign of a SMART executive. So if this is true, AKO MISMO ang magbabago ng pledge ko. AKO MISMO ang magbo-boycott sa SMART! AKO MISMO, humanda kayo sakin!

But if this is really a political ad, shame on all of you! How dare you play on the hopes of Filipinos! But on the other hand, I don't really care. The pledges are actually the things that every Filipino SHOULD be doing, with or without these kinds of campaigns. Right?